Orbital ATK’S Cygnus Spacecraft Successfully Berths with
International Space Station

Cygnus Delivered More Than 7,900 Pounds of Cargo to the ISS Including
Crew Supplies and Scientific Experiments

March 26, 2016 12:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time

DULLES, Virginia--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Orbital ATK, Inc. (NYSE:OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies, today announced that the S.S. Rick Husband CygnusTM
spacecraft successfully completed its rendezvous and berthing procedures
with the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this morning. This
marks the company’s fifth successful berthing with the orbiting
laboratory, and the fourth under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services
(CRS) contract.

“Our
flexible Cygnus spacecraft has a lot of work left to do. Following its
stay at the ISS, and for the first time, we will undertake three
experiments onboard the unmanned spacecraft.”

Cygnus launched aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket on
March 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The spacecraft
completed a series of thruster firings and other maneuvers over the past
few days to bring the spacecraft in close proximity to the ISS. When it
was approximately 30 feet from the ISS, crew members grappled Cygnus
with the Station’s robotic arm at 6:51 a.m. (EDT). The spacecraft was
then guided to its berthing port on the nadir side of the Unity module
of the ISS where installation concluded at 10:52 a.m. (EDT).

“As we accomplish our fifth Cygnus berthing to the ISS, we celebrate the
completion of a primary mission objective for OA-6,” said Frank
Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group. “Our
flexible Cygnus spacecraft has a lot of work left to do. Following its
stay at the ISS, and for the first time, we will undertake three
experiments onboard the unmanned spacecraft.”

The crew plans to open the Cygnus hatch and make initial ingress into
its cargo module tomorrow to unload the cargo, including food, clothing,
crew supplies, spare parts, laboratory equipment and scientific
experiments. Cygnus will remain berthed at the ISS for approximately two
months before departing with approximately 4,400 pounds (2,000
kilograms) of disposable cargo.

Following departure from the ISS, Cygnus will conduct three payload
mission objectives as part of its flight program. Using a deployer
provided by NanoRacks, the S.S. Rick Husband will place five CubeSats
into orbit to conduct their own autonomous missions. Onboard Cygnus, the
Spacecraft Fire Experiment-I (Saffire-I) will intentionally light a
large-scale fire that will grow and advance until it burns itself out.
The final experiment to take place aboard Cygnus will be the Reentry
Breakup Recorder (REBR). The ISS crew will install the REBR experiment
on Cygnus as they pack the spacecraft with disposal cargo. REBR will
measure and record data during Cygnus’ safe destructive reentry into
Earth’s atmosphere.

Orbital ATK has two additional CRS missions scheduled in 2016 to support
NASA’s ISS cargo and payload mission needs. Following an Antares launch
vehicle full-power hot-fire test, flight operations for Cygnus and
Antares will resume mid-year from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in
eastern Virginia. Under the CRS contract with NASA, Orbital ATK will
deliver approximately 59,000 pounds (26,800 kilograms) of cargo to the
ISS over 10 missions through 2018. Beginning in 2019, Orbital ATK will
carry out a minimum of six initial cargo missions under NASA’s recently
awarded CRS-2 contract.

Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies.
The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation
systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and
merchant supplier. Its main products include launch vehicles and related
propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense
electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition;
satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced
aerospace structures. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK
employs approximately 12,000 people in 18 states across the U.S. and in
several international locations. For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com.

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